284 COTTON 



is pressed out, and the other ingredients moulded 

 into cakes. 



The operation now required to complete the 

 work consists of preparing the crude oil for the 

 refinery and the cake for commerce. For con- 

 sumption in our country nearly the whole of the 

 cake is ground, putting it into a better form both 

 for feeding and fertilizing purposes. 



THE SIZE OF MILL 



The cost of transportation and seed storage is 

 one disadvantage in the process of manufacturing 

 oil and meal. But this difficulty is now overcome 

 by the multiplication of small oil mills, local 

 enterprises springing up all over the Cotton Belt 

 and each doing the work of its own community. 

 And (what is true of few other lines of manufac- 

 turing) the small oil mill does the work about as 

 efficiently and economically as the large one. 



The small mill in fact has a peculiar advantage 

 in that it has the interested support of the farmers 

 of the neighborhood. It should be as much a part 

 of the community, and should be operated in the 

 service of the farmers just as much as is the co- 

 operative creamery or the local flour mill in our 

 Western States. The community mill will get its 

 seed almost entirely from the neighborhood, and 

 meal and hulls will, or should be, entirely used by 

 the farmers of the community; consequently there 

 is no freight to pay on seed or on their products. 



The item of storage is of considerable conse- 

 quence, since a chain of delivery can be arranged 

 that will keep the mill at work, and not require 

 large quantities of seed to be kept on hand at any 

 time. 



